Juan MacKenna

Juan MacKenna (26 October 1771-21 November 1814), also called John MacKenna or Sean Mac Cionath, was an Irish-Chilean rebel general who fought in the South American Wars of Liberation. He was killed in a duel with rival general Luis Carrera.

Biography
From 1785 to 1791 he attended the Royal Military Academy in Spain through the influence of his uncle and in 1787 joined the Irish Brigade. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars alongside Jose de San Martin, and in 1796 traveled to the Americas. He was met by Ambrosio O'Higgins, the Viceroy of Peru and a fellow Irishman, and he was made Governor of Osorno and the chief engineer. He became rivals with General Gabriel de Aviles, and when O'Higgins died in 1801, Aviles became Governor and he had MacKenna deposed in 1809.

In 1811 he was made Governor of Valparaiso a year after he joined the First Republic of Chile's politics, and befriended fellow rebel general Bernardo O'Higgins, who he had known years before; he was Ambrosio O'Higgins' son. In 1814 at the Battle of Membrillar he won an amazing victory that temporarily crippled Royalist forces in Chile. However, when O'Higgins was deposed by Luis Carrera later that year, he was exiled to Argentina.

Murder
In 1814, a penniless MacKenna sought to reclaim his honor by dueling Carrera. He was killed in Buenos Aires in the duel, and O'Higgins avenged his death by executing Carrera in 1818.